Attack on Remnant
by Rhyfeddol
Summary: On a routine scouting mission, Team RWBY encounter a terrifying new enemy. They soon learn an ancient secret and join forces with a different kind of hunter to vanquish a mysterious evil once and for all.
1. Chapter 1

**Yang**

Fear. Some people say it's the most basic of human emotions, the one designed to keep you alive. It's the one that stopped early man from being annihilated by the Grimm, way back before we discovered Dust. It controls the fight-or-flight response, usually stops us from doing stupid shit, make us faster and stronger when we need to be. In short, it's one of the best natural weapons humans have.

But when I'm facing this asshole in front of me now, I don't have a clue how fear's supposed to save me.

Ruby, Weiss, Blake and I had been sent on a reconnaissance mission after contact with a small village outside the kingdom was suddenly lost. We were told to be prepared for a large amount of Grimm. What we found was... Something else entirely.

"Something that big shouldn't even be able to stand!" Weiss complained, staring at our target. She was right, as usual. That was something I had to begrudgingly admit about the Ice Queen: she was usually right about everything.

In this particular case, the "something" she was talking about looked human, more or less. The main difference was its size. Beyond _freaking massive_, there was no other way to describe it. Well, _naked _would work, too. This dude was easily thirty feet tall, and he had the bulk to go with the height. His eyes were dull and didn't show signs of intelligence, but the way he gazed at the four of us hungrily was deeply unsettling. There could be no doubt that he was the cause of the village's loss of contact; my team, the big guy and I were surrounded by blood and ruined buildings.

After, several tense seconds, big dude's hand shot out towards Blake. Instinctively, she rolled backwards and shot the hand. The big guy flinched and grunted in pain, but he didn't seem too badly hurt. Strangely, he didn't bleed, but steam jetted out of the wound, which closed in seconds.

"How did he-?" I tried to ask, but got interrupted by a large foot attempting to crush me. I dived to the side and fired a couple of long-range blasts into the giant's eyes. This time, it roared in pain as it clapped its hands up to its face. As it did that, I noticed that something was missing from its body. "Hey, guys?" I called.

"What now, Yang?" Blake replied monotonously. She probably knew what I was about to say certainly wasn't important during the fight.

"I figured out why this dude's so big. He's compensating."

"Compensating for what?" Ruby asked.

"He _literally _doesn't have a dick," I pointed out, laughing in spite of myself.

"Yang!" Weiss hissed. "Why are you so _crude_?"

Before I could retort, the giant was attacking again. Somehow, his eyes seemed good as new. He lunged at Ruby, who nimbly dodged while leaving a deep cut up his arm with Crescent Rose. Weiss then followed up with a gout of flame, intending to cauterise the wound. The giant yelled again as he tried to grab me. I intercepted his hand by throwing my full body weight into a punch. I felt some of his bones break under the force, but physics decided to screw me over anyway. I went flying and knocked over what was left of a nearby ruined house, getting momentarily stunned by the impact.

When I recovered, I saw Blake struggling to break free of the giant's grasp as he raised her towards his open mouth. _Is the prick gonna _eat _her? _I wondered in disbelief. I never found out, as the Faunus managed to escape, leaving a shadow clone in the enormous hand. The real Blake then made a series of rapid slashes with both swords, severing the fingers. She landed gracefully and retreated to a safe distance.

"How do we kill this asshole?" I asked in frustration. The giant didn't seem fazed by any of our attacks. "He just heals immediately!" He suddenly tried to step on me again, so I rolled forward. As I stood up, I turned and slammed my fist into his Achilles tendon, firing Ember Celica at the same time. The giant fell forward, causing the earth to tremble under his weight.

"I'm gonna go for the neck!" Ruby announced loudly. She planted Crescent Rose in the nape of the giant's neck and carved out a substantial chunk of flesh. For good measure, she fired a high-velocity round directly through the giant's spinal cord. The enormous body shuddered once, then lay still.

As the four of us stood around the corpse, contemplating what had just happened, it began to evaporate. A cloud of steam rose up from where it lay, obscuring our vision. When the cloud finally dispersed, all that remained of our titanic opponent was a skeleton.

"Okay, what just happened?" Weiss demanded in the businesslike tone she always uses when she wants answers, fast.

"It turned into steam," I reminded her.

"I can see that, you brute, but _how_? What _was _it, anyway?"

"Some kind of giant person," Ruby suggested.

"Without reproductive organs?" Blake inquired.

"Let's just get back to Beacon and see what Ozpin has to say," Ruby suggested. We all agreed, and followed our leader back to where our Bullhead pilot would pick us up. During the trek through the forest, we stayed alert in case any Grimm or those giants showed up. The dense woodland suddenly seemed far more threatening than usual, probably because we didn't know if any more of the big guys were around. Every sound louder than our own footsteps caused all four of us to instantly look towards the source, ready for a fight. That giant really did have the whole team shaken up. It's not every day you see something that size, or watch one of your best friends almost get eaten.

None of us said a word during the journey; we were all too tense for conversation. Even Ruby kept uncharacteristically quiet. The silence between us was so thick it felt like you could cut straight through it. Speaking of cutting through things, why had the giant healed all its wounds except for the one Ruby made in its neck? Had the neck been some sort of weak spot? Had my sister just happened to kill it before it had been able to heal? Despite my curiosity, I didn't want to find out. That would most likely involve fighting one of those guys again, which I _definitely _didn't want to do.

Luckily, though not very interestingly, the walk was uneventful. In spite of this, none of us relaxed until the trees began to thin at the edge of the clearing we were due to be picked up in. The Bullhead was already waiting for us when we got there. I followed my teammates aboard and sat down as the ship began to ascend. When it reached cruising altitude, I let out a breath I din't realise I had been holding.

"Back to Beacon?" the pilot asked.

"Yeah," Ruby told him. I felt the ship turn and accelerate, and decided to settle in for the flight. It wasn't long before we landed again. The village we'd been investigating wasn't all that far from Vale and the Bullhead pilot hadn't wasted any time in getting us back to Beacon.

When we disembarked, I was met with the awe-inspiring view of Beacon academy. I'd seen it from this angle what felt like dozens of times now, but with its aqueducts, statue in the courtyard and tower dominating the cliff, it never failed to impress me. That tower was our current destination; Professor Ozpin's office was located at the very top.

The elevator took us directly to the spacious, circular room. Overhead, a set of very large bells hung from the ceiling. A window opposite the elevator offered a spectacular look over the docks and the city of Vale itself. A rather large desk dominated that side of the room. However, when I saw the shape of Ozpin's chair, I was hard-pressed not to laugh. It was all I could do to keep a straight face when the Headmaster turned to look at us.

"I trust your mission was a success?" he asked.

"Yes, sir. We found out what happened," Ruby replied.

"Grimm infestation?"

"No, sir, it was this big dude. Like, thirty feet. The village was destroyed and there was blood everywhere," I explained.

"I see. Human figure?"

"Yes, sir. Though it had abnormally fast healing abilities and no visible means of reproducing," Blake told him.

"Hmm. This bodes ill," Ozpin told us gravely, his face impassive.

"Do you know what this is?" Weiss asked.

"Did you kill the creature?" Ozpin asked sternly, disregarding the heiress' question.

"Yeah, it evaporated after Ruby cut out part of its neck and shot it," I answered.

"Good. There's no telling what that thing might have done if it had reached Vale."

"Professor, what was it?" Weiss demanded.

"Something I had hoped would never make it all the way out here," the veteran Huntsman announced solemnly. "It was a Titan."

**A/N: Konnichi wa! I'm not actually Japanese, I've just been learning it in my free time because why the fuck not? Anyway. New crossover. New for me, anyway. I'm aware that the concept isn't new. I just watched AoT over a couple of days and figured a crossover with RWBY could be fun to write. I will explain next chapter how the Titans are in Remnant and how Eren and those guys will be there too. That's why this chapter was so short; I didn't want to fill half of it with exposition, so I figured I'd cut it there. I could probably expand the fight or the trip back to Beacon, but whatever. Also, bear in mind while reading this (assuming you stick with it past this chapter) that I haven't read the manga, I've only seen the anime, so all I know about AoT is what the anime reveals. Ships are a maybe (on the RWBY side. I don't ship anyone in AoT), but if they happen they won't be the main focus. That's about it, so leave a review and follow/favourite if you want. Thanks for reading. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Yang**

"A what?" Ruby asked, blinking in confusion. Based on the looks on the others' faces, they were all thinking the same thing.

"A Titan," Professor Ozpin repeated.

"And what's that?" Blake inquired calmly.

Ozpin sighed as he leaned back in his chair. "Girls, there is a major part of Remnant's history that is never taught. The Grimm are bad enough; we don't want the public to know what else there is in this world. Easier to keep the peace if they live in blissful ignorance."

"With all due respect, Professor, you're not making _any _sense," Weiss complained.

"Weiss, please let me finish."

"Sorry," she said quietly, avoiding the Headmaster's gaze.

"As I was saying, there is a major part of Remnant's history that no one ever discusses. Only a few even know the story I'm about to tell you. Do I have your word that you will not mention this to anyone?"

"Yes, sir," the four of us said in unison.

"Good. You are familiar, I presume, with the story of how man came into a world of darkness, and had to gain a footing before establishing civilisation? That is, of course, a very brief summary of how the four kingdoms we have today came to be. However, there is a detail always left out. There is a fifth kingdom." He paused, and gazed at the shocked faces of my team and I as we absorbed that information. "It isn't a 'kingdom' in the traditional sense. As far as I know, it doesn't even have a name. It is isolated from the others, and communication between our government and theirs is scarce."

"How is this related to the big guy?" I asked.

"Understand first that the citizens there are unaware of any civilisation outside their walls. As far as they know, the Titans roam the entire world, making it impossible to live anywhere else. They believe that since the Titans first appeared one hundred years ago, humankind is practically extinct. We know that this is not the case."

"Wait... The Titans just _appeared _one day?" Ruby asked.

"Supposedly, yes. The one you fought was the first recorded instance of a Titan anywhere near here. Likewise, the citizens of the isolated kingdom have never encountered the Grimm. We believe the Titans keep them away."

"So what you're telling me is, there's another kingdom and some giants that no one else knows about?" Weiss asked, clearly not believing it.

"Yes. We do not know much about the Titans. We don't know their weaknesses, their abilities, their habits, anything. It is generally hoped by the few of us who know about them that they won't roam near any of the kingdoms. It would seem that this hope has been dashed."

"So what happens now?" Blake asked.

"Now, we send fully qualified Huntsmen to scout the areas near the kingdoms and you four go back to your training," Ozpin told us simply. "Do not go looking for Titans, and _certainly _don't tell anyone what I have told you."

"Yes, sir," we said in unison. With that, we left the office and headed back to our dorm. Along the way, my mind was buzzing with what we'd just learned. Giant humanoids with no dicks just _appearing _and attacking one of the kingdoms? Moreover, it's one no one's ever heard of? How the hell does a kingdom get left out of the history books?

I soon found myself in Team RWBY's room with the others. For once, we didn't have any homework to do, so naturally Blake pulled out a book. I couldn't help but wonder if it was one of her... _Guilty pleasure_ novels, maybe? I didn't know how she viewed the more lewd books she had on her shelf, disguised inside those paper sleeves they put on hardcovers. She'd never actually admitted that she read erotica, but I once got _ridiculously _bored and decided to borrow a book while Blake was out. I did not expect what I found in the one I randomly pulled off the shelf, but I decided I'd use it as ammunition to tease her. She could be really cute when she was annoyed at someone.

_When did I start thinking of Blake as _cute_? _I wondered. _This whole day is turning out to be one weird thing after another._ I decided to hit the training room, both to clear my head and to work on my punches. I opened our dorm room door to leave and, in my distracted state of mind, immediately crashed into someone.

"Sorry," I muttered, only to realise that it was Jaune I'd hit. Apparently, the collision had been forceful enough to knock him off his feet, but I barely felt a thing.

"Jaune, what's the point of working on footwork if you're immediately gonna get knocked over when someone crashes into you?" Pyrrha scolded, but extended a hand to help the poor boy up anyway.

"Pyrrha, don't be too hard on him," I told the redhead. In that moment, I debated whether I should make a dirty remark about being hard, or be cocky about how I'd managed to knock JNPR's leader over. When I noticed that the rest of the team were also there, I decided to go with the latter. "I mean, a lot of guys get distracted when I'm around," I said, winking slyly. Jaune immediately went the colour of Pyrrha's hair as he sputtered, trying to formulate a response.

"Anyway, Yang, how did your mission go?" Ren asked.

"It was fine. Nothing serious," I lied. As much as I hated not telling the truth to my friends, I also figured Ozpin would somehow know if I told anyone about the Titans or that other kingdom, and I was afraid of what he'd do if I did.

Suddenly, the door to Team RWBY's door opened again. "Oh, hey, guys!" Ruby greeted.

"We wanted to ask what happened while you were away," Jaune said.

"Sorry, guys, but we promised Ozpin we wouldn't say anything," Ruby told him wistfully.

"Yeah, but you didn't _mean _it, did you?" Nora insisted. "I mean, you tell us _EVERYTHING!_"

"Nora, quieter, please," Ren implored her. "But I agree. What's different now?"

"I don't know how much we can say without breaking our promise, so I won't say anything," I said.

"I'm sure our Headmaster has his reasons for making them not say anything," Pyrrha announced to her team. I could tell she was being the rational one, but even she seemed a little hurt by us clamming up. Her voice carried a slightly bitter edge.

"Hey, if it makes you feel any better, he seemed really worried so you might find out at some point anyway!" Ruby suggested optimistically.

"If Ozpin was worried, I don't _want _to know anymore," Jaune replied fearfully.

"Man up, Vomit Boy," I told him, clapping him on the back. He fell over again, and I was hard-pressed to control my laughter. This time, it was Ren who helped him up. "Sorry," I said, as Jaune blushed yet again. "For knocking you over again," I added quickly.

"Wait, again?" Ruby asked.

"Can we not talk about it?" Jaune asked, clearly still flustered about his misfortune. "Anyway, I was thinking we could all head into Vale since we don't have anything to do. You guys in?"

"I was gonna hit the training room, but sure," I replied. "I'll go ask Weiss and Blake."

I pushed past Ruby as she also accepted the invitation and saw Weiss going over class notes. Typical. Meanwhile, Blake had her book closed on her lap and looked annoyed about something. _Cute. Like I thought earlier_, I told myself, before wondering yet again when I started thinking of my partner like that. Shaking my head to clear it, I asked "you okay?"

"You guys are being loud. It's distracting," she told me simply.

"Sorry. Anyway, Team JNPR invited us to come chill in Vale. You in?" She shrugged, then nodded as she put her book away. "Weiss, you're invited too," I added.

"I'll come, but you'd better not make me do anything stupid," Weiss replied, looking up from her notes.

"They're in," I called. Surprisingly, everyone was ready to go immediately, so the eight of us headed out. It was a warm, pleasant day, and the walk from the dorm building to the airship docks was an enjoyable one. We weren't kept waiting too long for a ride into the city, much to Weiss' satisfaction. With her upbringing, she never likes to be kept waiting.

The journey itself was also relaxing, and even Jaune looked almost fine while we were in the air. Nauseous, yes, but he didn't seem close to vomiting. That made me decide he might need a new nickname, so I passed the time trying to think of one. I didn't come up with anything though, much to my own disappointment. _Come on, Yang_, I scolded myself. _You should be good at this!_

"So, what should we do?" Ruby asked when the eight of us were back on solid ground.

"Can we get food?" I suggested. "I'm hungry."

"You're _always_ hungry," Weiss snapped. However, Nora was on board with my food idea.

"I'll try and be quiet if we can have pancakes!" she promised, rather enthusiastically. Somehow, I rather doubted that she was physically _capable _of being quiet, except maybe when she was asleep, but the fact that she'd try to spoke volumes about her determination to get her favourite food.

"Nora? I don't think anyone makes pancakes at this hour," Blake pointed out. I figured she was right; at three in the afternoon, it wasn't likely that pancakes would be available.

"If we find any, you can have them," Jaune told her.

We began wandering around aimlessly, just making small talk as we walked. Team JNPR didn't try asking about the mission, and no one on Team RWBY brought it up, even just amongst ourselves. However, our group soon stumbled on something that made Nora's eyes light up.

"Guuuuuuuys!" she gasped, pointing at a nearby café. "They do twenty-four hour breakfast!"

I was pleased about that too, so I wasted no time in reminding the others of Jaune's promise to let Nora have pancakes if we found any. After making the ginger swear to eat like a civilised person rather than inhaling her food like she normally did, we sat down in the outdoor seating area.

Soon, we were approached by a smiling waitress. "What can I get you?" she asked.

"All the pancakes!" Nora told her.

"Bring her a stack of seven," Ren clarified, seeing the poor girl's confused face.

"I'll take a waffle and some bacon," I requested. The others just got a large helping of bacon and fruit to share. I thought it seemed like a weird combination, but I've made stranger mixes of drinks before, so I wasn't judging.

It wasn't long before the food arrived, and Nora devoured her pancakes, to no one's surprise. The rest of us ate more slowly, taking the time to savour what we were eating. _This is actually really fucking good_, I thought to myself, taking note of the café's name so I could come here again. I had almost finished my waffle when I heard the sharp _crack _of a lighting bolt as it struck the ground somewhere not too far off. In the same instant, the ground shook beneath me and people began screaming in fear. Jaune's face lost its colour as he looked at something behind me. When I turned around to see for myself, what I saw made me shiver.

Atop the wall, the hundred and fifty foot structure designed to keep land-dwelling Grimm and roving bandits out, an enormous hand was resting. The hand was so large the Titan Ruby, Weiss, Blake and I had fought earlier would have almost felt like a toy to the body it was connected to. It also didn't appear to have any skin. Red, fibrous muscle could be seen, along with white bone. Seconds later, an equally enormous head came into view as the figure stood to its full height. The head didn't have any more skin than the hand, and all its teeth could be seen despite its mouth being closed. This creature, presumably some kind of stupidly big Titan, was so large that the Titan from earlier could have stood atop the wall and barely matched the big one's height.

"Okay, what is that?" Weiss demanded.

"I have no idea..." I replied slowly. Suddenly, there was an earth- and ear-shattering rumble and the screams intensified. The café we were at happened to be on the avenue leading directly to one of Vale's main gates, or at least, where the gate had been. A cloud of dust was rising from a newly-created hole, through which very large figures could be seen. It didn't take long for me to realise that they were Titans, some even larger than the first one we'd fought. They soon began grabbing civilians at random and tossing them into their mouths. The bigger Titans seemed to be swallowing their victims whole.

"_What the fuck are those?!_"Jaune yelled in terror.

"Remember you were asking about our mission? Turned out to be one of those pricks," I told him, activating Ember Celica. The rest of Team RWBY, as well as Team JNPR, also readied their weapons and prepared to fight.

"Guys, we'll probably die today," Ruby told us before we made any other moves. I figured this was the beginning of one of her famous "pep talks". "Those things are really, really hard to kill. But we have to put civilians' lives ahead of our own. It's our duty, so I just want to say this: it was great knowing you all." She wiped away a tear as she turned to face the advancing horde of Titans, her jaw set.

With a loud yell of defiance, she charged the giants, leaving the rest of us to follow in her wake.

**A/N: Here's the next chapter. Thanks to everyone who followed or favourited thus far. This has been the quickest update to one of my stories in a while, actually. Anyway, that's not important. We now know how the Titans are in Remnant. AoT characters will also be making their debuts soon. **

**Side note: Chapter 1 has been expanded. If it had 1.3k words when you read it, you may want to go back. It now has a few hundred more. **

**Anyway, that's all. So leave a review and follow/favourite if you want to. Thanks for reading. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Yang**

The eight of us charged the advancing Titans, hoping we could draw their attention away from the civilians. The dust cloud made it hard to see and breathe, but it seemed to be starting to dissipate. The other small shred of good news was that the stupidly huge guy didn't appear to be trying to cause any further damage to the wall. Still, more Titans continued to pour through the hole as people ran for their lives.

The screams of the civilians made it difficult to concentrate, but I wasted no time in slamming my fist into the knee of the nearest Titan, bringing the bastard to the ground. It was comparatively small, only around fifteen feet, so I didn't have to jump too far to hit my target. I rolled out of the way as it fell, before caving in the side of its skull with another well-placed punch, augmented by a shotgun blast.

Assuming it wouldn't be getting back up, I turned my attention to Jaune, who was just barely holding his own against another Titan, larger than the one I'd just fought. It had its back to me, so I took a running jump and propelled myself forward in the air with Ember Celica. My goal was to take out the Titan attacking Jaune while it was distracted, and I succeeded by firing my gauntlet again as my fist connected with the nape of its neck. It collapsed with the force of me hitting it, and Jaune shot me an appreciative look. It soon changed to dread, however, as he looked at something behind me.

"Yang…" he started slowly, pointing. "The other one you took down is getting back up." Not quite believing him, I turned around to see for myself. Sure enough, my first supposed "kill" of the battle was struggling onto its feet, its collapsed skull already partially healed. As I watched, dumbfounded at its regenerative capabilities, the one I was standing on began to evaporate.

The steam scalded me, turning my skin red and causing me to blister as I dove to relative safety. I tried to get my bearings as the pain started to fade, but I soon became aware of the two things. First, my feet were no longer on solid ground. Second, a heavy constricting feeling had settled around my torso, preventing me from breathe properly. It wasn't until I got over the initial shock of this that I realised what was going on; a Titan, clearly one of the larger ones, had picked me up from behind and was most likely raising me towards its mouth. I struggled to break free of its grasp, but its hand was like a vice around my body.

Crushed by the feeling of helplessness, I closed my eyes and waited for my fate.

**Blake**

I was about to deal what I thought would be the killing blow to a twenty-five-foot tall Titan's neck when I saw something that made the world stand still. Gambol Shroud stopped mid-swing as I watched Yang's beautiful golden mane vanish into the maw of another Titan.

"YANG!" I screamed, full of anguish and rage, but I didn't hear my own voice. I was overwhelmed by a crushing silence as my partner's limp body fell from the enormous hand into the equally enormous gullet. From this distance, I couldn't even tell if she was alive or dead. The Titan who'd eaten her swallowed, but I didn't see any chewing motion from its jaw. _Maybe she survived,_ I thought desperately. _Maybe it swallowed her whole, and she's alive in its stomach._

As I wondered whether or not that would be better than being dead, the Titan whose shoulder I was perched on stumbled backwards as its face was torn apart by a high-calibre sniper round. The sudden unexpected movement caught me off guard and I was thrown into the air as Ruby yelled an apology.

I threw Gambol Shroud, successfully sticking it into the side of a building. Using the ribbon, I swung to the ground and pulled my weapon back to me. Still crushed by the loss of Yang, I numbly continued to fight.

The seven of us remaining were able to take Titans down without too much trouble, but they always regenerated just as fast. This meant that even as we all began to tire – barring Pyrrha, who seemed to be tapping into a limitless pool of energy – our enemies always appeared to be completely refreshed within seconds of being defeated.

That's not to say we hadn't killed any properly, but we hadn't figured out a sure-fire way to make them stay down. Throughout the battle, I tried to see what was different about the Titans who didn't get up before evaporating, but the evaporation made it next to impossible for me to glean anything from the corpses. The fact that I was still fighting back tears of grief didn't exactly help, either.

Predictably, the only person who seemed unperturbed by the Titans' regeneration was Nora; she looked to be having the time of her life. The hammer-wielding maniac was literally bouncing from giant to giant, swinging Magnhild every which way as she shattered enormous bones and toppled titanic opponents. Unfortunately, despite her weapon's supreme efficiency in bringing Titans to the ground, even she didn't seem capable of keeping them down for long.

Things looked bleak as yet more Titans joined the fray; we had no way to plug the hole and prevent their entry. Not seeing a way out unless someone figured out what to do, I retreated to a safe distance to think.

_That first Titan died when Ruby cut and shot its neck. Yang took one out with a punch to that same spot._ At the thought of Yang, fresh tears began welling in my eyes, but I brushed them away and continued analysing what little information I had. _Is the neck a weak spot?_

Operating purely on this hunch, I set my sights on a comparatively small Titan, about fifteen feet tall, who was plodding away from the fight, looking for more people to eat. I followed at full tilt, yelling for its attention. Both blades unsheathed, I sprinted between the Titan's legs and made certain it would go for me.

I allowed myself to be picked up in a carefully calculated, albeit dangerous, ploy. When the Titan raised me towards its mouth, I slashed its hand to make it drop me. As I fell, I threw Gambol Shroud again and embedded it in the beast's temple. Using my ribbon, I swung round to the back of its neck and left a deep cut with my cleaver, opening a neat seam along the Titan's nape. It jerked upright and fell forward, apparently dead, as I landed in a roll and pulled my weapon out of its head. As I'd thought, it soon began to evaporate, and I headed back to the main battle to tell the others.

I arrived to find one of the larger Titans lying face down on the ground, not yet having regenerated its legs. Despite this, it was struggling to get to its feet. I wasted no time in jumping on its back and carving out a large chunk of flesh from the base of its neck. Instantly, it stopped struggling and lay still.

"How did you do that?" Ruby asked in wonder as the fresh Titan corpse began turning to steam.

"Just a hunch," I told her. Raising my voice, I called out "go for the back of the neck!"

Within minutes of the others learning what I'd figured out, the number of enemies was reduced by half, and the influx of Titans was starting to slow. The colossal skinless one had by this point vanished, and it looked like we might be able to win the fight after all.

Ruby and Weiss were fighting together with machine-like efficiency; Weiss would use her glyphs or ice Dust to hold Titans in place while Ruby finished them off with Crescent Rose, either shooting or cutting their napes. Nora had barely had to change her tactics. She was still using Magnhild to break the legs of Titans, only now she was also delivering killing blows when they were down. Ren, Jaune, Pyrrha and I seemed to have an unspoken agreement; the three of them would distract enemies and try to keep their attention away from me while I used the additional mobility I got from Gambol Shroud to kill them. All our respective strategies were successful in taking down Titans, and it was only a few minutes before they were all dead. All that remained was a hole in the wall and rapidly evaporating corpses. At one point during the battle, I thought I'd seen one running back through the breach, but I'd been too occupied to do anything at the time and now it was nowhere to be found.

It was impossible to be sure whether the Titan who'd eaten Yang was among the dead; by this point the skin of every one of them was gone and only bones remained. In some cases, even the skeleton was gone. I half-expected Yang to be hiding inside an enormous ribcage, only to jump out at us and scare us witless. She'd be bruised and her hair would be a mess, but otherwise she'd be fine...

Unfortunately, this was the real world, and that sort of thing didn't happen. For all intents and purposes, Yang was gone, and she didn't seem to be coming back. Only now that all the Titans had been dealt with did that truly hit me, and I stopped holding back my emotions. I dropped Gambol Shroud and sat down, leaning against the nearest building as the tears began to flow freely.

I'd never realised quite how much I depended on my partner. She had always been there for me; no matter the problem, Yang had always been able to relieve me of my worries with a sunny smile and a – sometimes forced – hug. She'd even saved me from myself when I'd been dangerously stressed about Torchwick and the White Fang. Now that I'd lost her, I didn't know what I would do.

I didn't know how long I sat there, but when I stood up and wiped my undoubtedly puffy eyes, the sun had begun to set and people had appeared at the scene of the carnage to see what had happened. The Titan corpses had completely vanished by this point, leaving what was likely a very confusing sight; a crying teenage girl, with her weapon discarded beside her, surrounded by death and destruction.

Numbly, I picked up Gambol Shroud and started picking my way through the crowd, heading in the general direction of Beacon. I was vaguely aware of people asking me what had transpired earlier in the day, but I barely heard them. Regardless, I wasn't in anything that could be called a talking mood.

When I was well away from the crowd, I checked my scroll. I had missed over a dozen messages from Ruby, Weiss and Team JNPR, all expressing worry or asking if I was all right. _No, I'm not all right, can't you see?_ I thought bitterly. _My best friend is... Is..._ I couldn't even finish the thought before a fresh wave of tears began.

I knew I still had all my other friends, and if anything the loss of Yang would bring us closer, but not having the fiery blonde around felt like the great flame of hope and optimism that had been growing in me since I'd met everyone else on Teams RWBY and JNPR had suddenly been extinguished. Never – not even when I'd left the White Fang – had anything made me feel so crushed, so devastated, so... Alone.

As I walked towards my home, the towering spires of Beacon the sole vibrant objects in a world otherwise coloured only in shades of grey, a sudden shock of realisation hit me. Nothing I did could bring Yang back. But she had never been the sort who would want anyone to sit around mourning her for the rest of their lives. I hadn't been able to save her; the least I could do was honour her memory by bringing extinction to the abominations who had snuffed out the brightest spark in my life.

I made a promise to myself, and to Yang: I would not rest until every Titan in existence rued the day it met me.

**A/N: Whew. This one was a long time coming. Sorry about the wait, it never felt quite right to me and I wasn't sure how to end it. Not to mention the fact that I was on vacation, among other things, but anyway. Never mind that. Hopefully the chapter was worth the wait. **

**Sooo... Is Yang gone? Two people on Earth know the answer to that question. The rest of you will have to wait and see. Surprisingly, I actually know exactly how this particular kerfuffle is going to play out. What I'd like to know is, would you guys find it worse if you just didn't find out for a really long time, or if I straight-up told you she's really dead? I'm just curious, it has nothing to do with whether or not she is. Or maybe it does. Tee-hee. **

**Also, I realise Blake may have been kind of OOC after Yang got eaten, but she did lose her best friend. Also, it's my story, I'm allowed some creative liberty, so cut me some slack.**

**Anyway, I've gone on long enough. So, as always, leave a review and follow/favourite if you want. Thanks for reading. **


	4. Chapter 4

Blake

When I finally got back to Beacon, I was met with a sombre atmosphere. My first instinct was to go to my room and sleep until darkness fell, when I would sneak out and hunt down every Titan I could find.

Upon opening my dorm room door, I was met with a sorry sight. Ruby had finally broken down after maintaining her composure surprisingly well during the fight, and was sitting on Weiss' bed, shaking in silent sobs. Meanwhile, the heiress had her arm awkwardly draped around the crying girl. Somewhat to my surprise, even Weiss had been hit extremely hard by what had happened. Gentle tears were flowing down her face, yet she was clearly trying to be strong for her partner's sake.

There was bitter irony in the fact that it took losing the sun dragon to melt the Ice Queen, but I tried not to dwell on it. Instead, I curled up on my own bed with a book, hoping I'd be able to distract myself from my sorrow.

Unfortunately, even reading felt wrong; without Yang trying to get me to do something crazy with her, Ruby and Nora, the experience wasn't the same. Luckily, a potential distraction came in another form; Professor Ozpin's voice came over the loudspeaker, summoning everyone in the school to the auditorium immediately.

I followed Ruby and Weiss into the hallway, where we met up with Team JNPR and joined the human current rushing to answer Ozpin's summons. Nora was quieter than I'd ever known her to be, speaking scarcely a single word during the walk.

In the auditorium, we found Ozpin, Goodwitch and the rest of Beacon's staff standing on the stage, waiting for everyone's arrival. Every single one of them was wearing a grave expression. Once the last few stragglers had entered the cavernous room hall, the silver-haired headmaster stepped forward and spoke into the microphone.

"Ladies and gentlemen. Doubtless you are aware of what transpired earlier today, however you may not be sure of the details. Those of you who are almost certainly do not know what it was that actually attacked the city." He let his words sink in as he surveyed the human sea, interspersed with Faunus. After several seconds, he continued. "The creatures which brought so much death and destruction to the city of Vale are known as Titans. We do not know where they came from, or how they came to be, but their sole purpose appears to be the consumption of humans. We can assume this extends to Faunus as well, but we have no concrete proof." _It does, Professor, _I thought. _Two of them tried to eat me today. _Of course, I couldn't very well say that; I wasn't ready for the whole school to know my secret.

"For you all to understand the true meaning of the Titans' appearance today, it is necessary to impart to you some closely-guarded knowledge," Goodwitch announced. "Doctor Oobleck will explain." The dangerously caffeinated history teacher stepped forward, though it seemed more as though he had teleported. He recounted everything Ozpin had explained to my team and I that morning, which now seemed like it had happened decades ago. Glancing around, I saw that most people weren't any more willing to believe it than we had been, but no one said anything. When Oobleck finished speaking, Ozpin took the microphone back.

"From the reports given to us by Teams RWBY and JNPR, we know that the only sure-fire way to kill a Titan is by targeting the back of its neck. You all need to know and remember that fact; the Titans could return at any time. Furthermore, third- and fourth-year teams will be periodically sent out to ensure the landscape surrounding the city is clear of this threat.

"Meanwhile, we have reached out to the fifth kingdom. They have dispatched a significant portion of their Survey Corps to assist our own forces. Unfortunately, crossing Titan- and Grimm-infested terrain is no small task when your entire group is on horseback, so it will be a while before they arrive. In the meantime, you will all return to your regular schedule unless you are sent to scout. You are dismissed." The entire student body began to slowly file out of the auditorium. Over the noise of hundreds of pairs of feet hitting the floor as everyone shuffled along, Ozpin called "Teams RWBY and JNPR, we would speak with you in private."

Ruby, Weiss, Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, Ren and I left the flow of bodies and began pushing our way to the stage. It was several minutes before everyone was clear and the veteran Huntsmen and Huntresses addressed us.

"When we spoke earlier, you were not all present and you were still very much distressed. I hope you have all had some time to calm down, even if only a little bit," Ozpin said.

Looking around, I didn't think that likely. Ruby still had tears streaming down her face, though she had stopped sobbing before we'd arrived in the auditorium. Weiss had stopped crying altogether, but her eyes were still red and puffy. I didn't know how Team JNPR had been holding up until the summons, but Nora still hadn't said a word. Jaune and Pyrrha seemed to be standing closer together than usual, but whether they were conscious of it or not was another matter. Doubtless they were just trying to draw comfort from each other's warmth. Of the whole sorrowful group, Ren alone was showing no emotion; hardly surprising given the boy's usual composure. I doubted he felt as apathetic as he looked, however. As for myself, I was quietly plotting my crusade against the Titans.

"I realise how difficult it must be for you all, to lose a friend in this manner. However, you are still children, not yet fully trained. Allow those with the necessary experience to kill Titans to avenge Yang; I implore you to not dishonour her by throwing yourselves into the literal jaws of death," Opzin continued. I began silently seething with rage, but tried not to let it show. _Don't you dare tell me how to honour my friend_, I thought furiously. _Don't you _fucking _dare_.

"You will be allowed time off class to grieve however you see fit," Glynda told us. "Do not take that as a free pass to do whatever you want, however; we will not tolerate any endangerment to yourselves or your fellow students. We would also ask that you remain on school grounds; your emotionally unstable states of mind could lead you to do something foolish if you leave the academy." _Don't want me to leave? _I thought, still pissed off beyond belief. _Just try and stop me._

"You are dismissed," Ozpin announced. He and the other staff members left the auditorium, leaving the seven of us alone. As soon as they were all out of earshot, Ruby's still-streaming eyes took on a mischievous glint.

"All in favour of becoming the most badass Titan-killing squad of Huntsmen and Huntresses ever and single-handedly wiping out an entire species of killers..." she said extremely quickly, pausing for breath at the end. "Say 'I'," she finished, rather dramatically.

"What's the point?" Jaune asked. "They'll just kill us anyway, and if we survive we'll get expelled." Ruby's face fell; evidently, that wasn't the response she'd been expecting.

"While I understand your desire for revenge, what you propose involves killing the giant one with no skin," Pyrrha pointed out. "It could step on us and not even notice."

"So we're just gonna do nothing?" Ruby asked, clearly not a fan of the idea.

"No, Ruby. We're going to complete our training, _then _we're going to make the Titans pay," Weiss said. "Who knows? Maybe next year they'll send us out to fight them anyway." The Ice Queen brought up a good point, I mused; we were in our second year, and third years had been chosen to go on anti-Titan patrols. Still, I wasn't waiting until then.

"So... Next year we smash some fuckers?" Nora asked, her voice hoarse. Those were the first words I'd heard from her since the battle.

"Yes, Nora," Ren replied.

"Now we should focus on making sure we _can _fight them and live when the time comes," Pyrrha said. She stormed off without another word. It was very out of character for her; I figured the loss of Yang had hit her harder than she was letting on. Jaune looked around helplessly, then ran after her.

I decided I would need some sleep for my "excursion" later. "I'm going to bed," I announced curtly, and headed back to my room. When I got there, I changed into my yukata and climbed into bed. Sleep evaded me, however; all I could think about was how I wouldn't hear the constant snoring that could wake the dead, or the tell-tale _thud _of Yang getting up the next morning. For about half an hour, I tried various sleeping positions, all of which proved too uncomfortable. I'd slept in worse conditions, but I'd also gotten used to Beacon's mattresses and the level of comfort they provided. Suffice to say, the land of dreams remained far out of my reach.

I sighed, and was overtaken by a sudden irrational urge. I climbed out of bed and noiselessly leapt to the upper bunk. My nose was instantly overwhelmed with the scent of my lost friend and partner, and her bed seemed exponentially more conducive to sleep than my own. The familiarity of her smell brought fresh tears to my eyes, but I just let them flow as I was finally carried off to sleep.

My dreams were... Troubled, to say the least. I continuously relived the day from different perspectives: I saw it happen exactly how I had in real life, then again from the ground, and again from the shoulder of the Titan who'd actually eaten Yang. Once I _was _Yang, compressed on all sides by a giant hand as the street fell away beneath me. I was helpless as the darkness of the Titan's maw enveloped me, and I stopped struggling as I slid down its pitch-black throat.

The sensation of falling jolted me awake with a start. The dorm room was so dark that I panicked for a second, half-believing I was still in the dream. I could hear Ruby and Weiss' quiet breathing, though, so the fear didn't last long. I silently observed the two of them, wondering if I'd live to see them again. I honestly didn't care if I did or not. I felt that without Yang, there was no point in staying at Beacon.

As quietly as I could, I hopped down from Yang's bed and dressed in my regular outfit. I then picked up Gambol Shroud and slowly opened the window, slipping out into the night. I decided not to leave a note, since I knew that Ruby and Weiss would immediately go after me. Maybe if I was just gone when they woke, they would I'd gone for some solitude in a tree somewhere.

Speaking of trees, I used the one just outside my window to climb down to ground level and headed off in the direction of Vale. I figured all the Titans would've been gone at this point, considering we'd killed all the ones that had entered earlier, but I was wrong. One had lumbered through the still-gaping hole in the wall and was sitting close to the café we'd eaten in.

It seemed strangely docile though, almost as though it were sleeping. I didn't even try to hide as I approached it, and it even stared straight at me as I drew my sword. Curiously, it barely reacted, even when I threw Gambol Shroud into a building and used the ribbon to swing upwards towards its face. I landed right on its nose and stabbed its eye out with me cleaver, which only caused it to tense up. I decided I'd worry about the docility later and finish the job now. Pulling the rest of my weapon back to me, I climbed to the back of its neck and cut out a large amount of skin. It shuddered and fell back as I jumped onto a nearby rooftop.

The Titan dealt with, I ran through the breach to hunt for more prey. The sun was just starting to rise as I left the city, casting a peaceful golden glow over the landscape I was going to scour for things to kill. Remembering my vow, I headed into the unknown.

**A/N: Welcome back! Sorry for the obscene delay, but it's at the point where I have a lot of schoolwork because of reviewing for exams and shit like that. Funny thing, that: in history, I actually learned more during a review class than the entire year because my teacher hasn't bothered to do her job. Anyway, that's not important. **

**I've also been studying various languages recently, because I've decided I want to be a polyglot. So since the last update, I've learned more Japanese and German, learned Hangul (Korean writing system. Actually only took about ten minutes to learn. Seriously. It's dead easy, I'm not trying to look clever here) and a few Korean basic phrases and delved into Spanish and Esperanto. Languages are fun. :)**

**Getting back on topic, hopefully the chapter wasn't disappointing after the wait. I just didn't have the time to get it exactly how I wanted it to be for a while, so I'm kinda hoping it turned out well. And Yang's still not back. Is she really dead? ;)**

**Well, I've rambled on far too long this time, so I'm gonna wrap this up. Thanks for reading, leave a review and follow or favourite if you want to. ****Tschüss.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Ruby (Several hours before the end of Ch. 4)**

Weiss and I walked back to our dorm room together. When we arrived, Blake was already asleep on Yang's bed. She was curled up in a tight ball, looking so much like a kitten I would've squealed if I weren't so sad.

The battle earlier had left me exhausted, and losing Yang had drained me emotionally. It didn't help that none of my friends or teammates seemed willing to avenge her. I had no words to say as I numbly got dressed for bed and tried to fall asleep.

It was still so hard to believe. After Summer Rose had disappeared and most likely died, Yang had been the closest thing to a mother I ever had. Dad always did the best he could, but it wasn't the same without Mom. Now that Yang was gone... I didn't know how Dad and I would be able to cope. As I lay on my bed, staring at the ceiling, I expected more tears to come. None did though, strangely enough. I figured I must've cried too much earlier.

_There's gonna be a lot more crying in the future_, I thought sadly. _Without Yang to cheer me up when I'm feeling down..._ When we were kids and I felt sad or lonely or worried, my fiery, overprotective sister had always been there for me. She could make me feel better immediately, no matter what she did. Now that that was gone, I figured there'd be some issues. Weiss and Blake were still with me though, but neither of them were the type to talk to in those situations.

I lay there unmoving for a few hours, feeling cold and numb. Even with all my blankets wrapped tightly around my body, I couldn't seem to warm up. _Time for a desperate measure_, I thought, gathering my courage.

When I felt I was as ready as I was going to be, I jumped down to see if Weiss was awake. She was fast asleep, looking far too peaceful considering what had happened. I didn't want to wake her, but the alternative was Blake, who was sleeping in Yang's bed. I didn't think I'd be able to handle that. I took a deep breath and gently shook my partner's shoulder.

"Whaaaat..." she groaned softly. "Ruby, go to sleep."

"B-b-but I'm too cold," I stammered nervously. "Can I- can I sleep with you, just this once?" Silence from Weiss. I was scared I'd asked too much until she finally spoke.

"Fine. Get in quick, the heat's going to escape." She lifted her duvet and moved to the side to make room for me. Silently thanking whatever god may be watching, I climbed into her bed. Contrary to what people might have thought, it was actually quite warm. Even Weiss herself seemed to be giving off heat, even though she's known as the Ice Queen.

As I finally started to warm up, I wondered how close I could get to the now back-to-sleep Weiss without pushing my luck. I scooted towards her back, which was facing me since she'd rolled over, and settled when there were about six inches between us. I got comfortable in the warmth and faint smell of Weiss' shampoo and felt a dreamless sleep wash over me.

When I woke up, sunlight was streaming past the open curtains and I had my arms wrapped around Weiss. Her ivory hair was covering my face, and a few strands were in my mouth, which must've opened while I was asleep. I quietly spat them out and got up, stretching my stiff muscles.

I noticed that Blake was out, but that didn't surprise me. She was probably in the library, reading a book. That was what she always did when she was feeling down about something, if Yang didn't get to her first. I decided to worry about her later; I was too tired and hungry to do anything besides eat right now.

Even before getting breakfast, though, I needed to shower. I was still grimy and sweaty from the day before, and sleeping next to Weiss, who wasn't any cleaner, hadn't done wonders for my hygiene.

I stripped down in the bathroom and got in the shower, letting the hot water loosen my muscles. As I stood there, water running down my body, unwanted and unwelcome thoughts of Yang started swarming my mind. I think I cried again, but no one would have been able to tell because of the water already on my face. I washed my hair and body as quickly as I could, before shutting the water off and drying myself with a towel. That done, I dressed and left the bathroom.

"Good morning, Ruby," Weiss greeted politely from the middle of the room. From the mess her hair was in, I figured she'd only just gotten up. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah!" I told her, maybe a little too enthusiastically. I tried not to blush as I remembered how I'd woken up and hoped Weiss hadn't felt a thing. "What about you?"

"Troubled, but.. Oddly, you were there to hug me in most of my dreams." Her face had a confused look as she finished speaking. _Does she know? _I wondered. _She'd probably be pissed if she knew I woke up hugging her. _

"Of course I'd hug you, Weiss! We kinda need each other right now... And Blake..." I trailed off sadly. It was then that I realised that the curtains had been closed the night before, and the window was open.

"Where is she, anyway? Do you know?"

"Probably in the library or something. She didn't leave a note."

"We'll find her after breakfast. We should really be sticking together right now. I get that it's her way of coping, but..." Weiss trailed off, the sadness on her face now matching the peacefulness I'd seen the night before, just before I woke her up. "You know, Ruby... She's actually grown on me." I didn't have to ask to know that she was now talking about Yang. "She was like the big sister I never had. You hold us together, but Yang... She's everything my own sister isn't."

"You have a sister?" I asked. Weiss had never mentioned her family before, except to complain about her father.

"Winter Schnee. Stuck-up brat of a twelve-year-old. You think I was bad when we met? You'd _beg _to be back with me if you had to be with her for five minutes. She was always Father's favourite. When he wasn't complaining about company execs or doting over her, he was telling me how I brought shame to the family name and that I should've been born a boy, so that he could've beaten the 'insolence' out of me. All I ever did was say I wanted to be a Huntress. 'Not a proper job for a lady', he said. 'You should be glad you're a Schnee. Otherwise no one would want you'."

"Weiss, I-" I started to say to the now-crying heiress, but she raised a hand to stop me.

"Let me finish. The worst of it came on my seventeenth birthday. He was drunk, and I refused to have a party with all his 'friends' as guests. He smashed a liquor bottle over my face and said I was an ungrateful little bitch. That's how I got this scar." She pointed to the faint line over her eye. "I never realised it until I became part of Team RWBY, but I needed someone like Yang my whole life. Someone I could talk to, complain to, cry to, someone who would hug me and tell me everything would be fine. She never did much more than irritate me for her own amusement, but I could tell how much she cared. About all of us.

"Ruby, you and Blake are the only family I have left. Promise me you won't ever leave me."

"I promise," I whispered, while fresh tears welled in my eyes. I stepped towards Weiss and hugged her tightly, crying into her shoulder. "We'll get through this together," I said quietly. "You, me and Blake. We have to." She clung to me like she were holding on for dear life as her body began to shake.

We embraced for a long time, neither of us wanting to let the other go. Eventually, though, the tears stopped and we both decided it would be best to get out and do something rather than getting lost in grief. Weiss took a brief shower, then we headed down to the cafeteria where, with a bit of luck, breakfast was still being served. The atmosphere when we arrived was far too happy for my liking. _How can you people be enjoying yourselves? _I wondered. _Dozens of people were eaten alive yesterday. Innocent people. And the most important person in my life... Is gone_.

I pushed those thoughts aside as Weiss and I got our food and made our way over to a table where Team JNPR were sitting. From what I could tell, none of them were talking or eating much. They all looked almost as sad as I felt. Weiss and I sat down beside them wordlessly.

"Seen Blake today?" I asked after a couple of minutes of picking at my breakfast. No one had. I noticed that Jaune and Pyrrha were sitting really close together. Like, closer than I'd ever seen them. Pyrrha was practically in Jaune's lap as an unwelcome voice rose above the general noise of the cafeteria.

"If _I'd _been fighting these Titans," Cardin Winchester was saying somewhere behind me, "I wouldn't have let myself be eaten. How does that even happen? If they're big enough to pick you up, surely you'd see their hands?" Pyrrha glared at him, but he either didn't notice or didn't care. "Maybe her stupid hair got in the way of her vision. Or maybe a strand of it got in the beast's throat and she dove in after it. Dumb bitch." At this point, Nora began shaking, but whether it was from anger or sadness or cold, I didn't know. Her face was like stone. "Wait, guys, I know what happened. It was those jugs she was carrying around. They were fucking _huuuuge._ They slowed her down too much. Oh well. She wasn't good for much anyway." When she heard that, Nora snapped. She thumped the table so hard her fist went through it and shot to her feet. A hushed silence suddenly went around the room as she stalked towards Cardin. She looked almost funny beside him; one of the shortest girls in our year compared to one of the taller boys. Her expression was anything but funny though.

"Just keep fucking talking. I dare you. I _fucking _dare you."

"Nora! It's not worth it," Ren called. Nora ignored him and continued staring at Cardin with unbridled fury written on her face.

"What are you gonna do?" Cardin asked. "Climb down a Titan's throat after her?" The next second, the bully was nowhere to be found, and Nora's fist was fully extended. A second after that, the whole cafeteria shook as the far wall cracked. There was a soft _thud _as Cardin hit the floor, and Nora sat back down with most of the anger gone.

"I needed that," she said. She began cutting her pancakes as though nothing had happened while everyone else in the cafeteria started talking again.

"Hey, Nora," a new voice said. I turned towards it and saw Coco Adel and Velvet Scarlatina sitting down next to our group. They were in the year above us and we didn't see them much, but we always got along pretty well. "Just so you know, I can't stand that son of a bitch. If Ozpin or Goodwitch comes after you for breaking the caf, I'll take the blame, kay?" Coco continued.

"Sure," Nora said, sounding like she couldn't care less.

"Anyway, sorry about Yang. I'll miss her."

"Me too, Coco. Me too," I replied sadly.

"I'll make sure to kill as many Titans as I can," Coco promised.

"Where's Blake?" Velvet blurted out.

"Library?" Weiss guessed. "We don't know, we haven't seen her today."

"I was there a few minutes ago. She wasn't."

"She may have done exactly what we were told not to," Pyrrha suggested. "If she snuck out to hunt Titans last night, she could be long gone."

"Would she have done that?" Coco asked.

"Wait... Ruby, did you open the window in our room?" Weiss asked.

"No..." I said slowly.

"Dammit! You're the leader, can't you track teammates' scrolls?"

"Oh yeah, I can!" I got out my scroll and opened the tracking section. I was presented with a satellite of Vale. In Beacon, images of Weiss and I stared blankly up at me. Blake was nowhere to be found, and there was no signal from Yang's scroll. I zoomed out until my missing teammate's face appeared at the edge of the screen; she was about ten miles outside the city. Thankfully, her Aura readout was fine. The bar was almost completely full, but that didn't stop me from worrying. "We need to go after her!"

"I know how to fly a Bullhead," Coco said slyly. "That's faster than running."

"Take us," Weiss demanded. "And don't let Ozpin find out. I'm gonna _kill _her when we catch her."

Within five minutes, the eight of us had gathered our equipment and were waiting for Coco to start the Bullhead. Velvet was sitting with her in the cockpit, speaking with her in hushed tones. Meanwhile, Team JNPR, Weiss and I were maintaining an anxious silence. I was keeping an eye on my scroll. Slowly but surely, Blake was moving further and further from the city, through potentially Titan- or Grimm-infested territory. It was only a matter of time before she got herself killed.

"Just so you guys know," Coco called back. "We're breaking about a dozen rules here. Sure you wanna do this?'

"Stop dilly-dallying," Weiss told her. "Just fly this damn thing!"

To be honest, the prospect of breaking some rules had me excited in spite of myself. I actually cracked a smile as the ship's engines came to life and we began ascending.

"Go east," I told Coco. "That's where Blake is."

"Got it." The Bullhead turned and shot off towards my teammate. About ten seconds later, a voice came over the radio.

"No aircraft have been scheduled for flight at this time." Presumably, a flight controller was hailing us. "Please identify yourself."

"Umm… you first," Coco said.

"Steve Johnson, Beacon flight controller. It's my job to keep track of the school's aircraft. Now, I'll ask again: who are you?"

In response, Coco flipped a switch. "Boring conversation," she said. "Anyway, they're on to us now. There could be trouble when we get back."

The rest of the flight was spent in silence. I didn't see any Titans or Grimm outside the windows, but not for want of searching. We weren't flying for long before my scroll told us we were almost on top of Blake. Sure enough, Velvet announced that there was a very Blake-like figure visible not far ahead of us. Unfortunately, there were also about five Titans.

"Kay, I'm gonna set her down and we're gonna get out quick. Got it?" Coco asked. "Then we're gonna kill the bitches, get Blake and be back in time for Goodwitch to murder us."

"You guys ready?" Velvet asked.

"Let's do it," I said. The Bullhead had barely started to descend when it suddenly jerked sideways and Coco yelled "oh _shiiiiiit!_"

**A/N: Oh dear. That can't be good. Anyway, sorry about the long wait for the chapter. It was longer than usual though, and Cardin was hit hard enough to kill a real human, right?**

**I'm done school now (except for five exams spread out over two weeks, but they're not gonna take up much time), so assuming I don't get too caught up in my language studies, I should be updating all my stories more often. **

**Anyway, that's all. Leave a review and follow/favourite if you want to. Thanks for reading.**


	6. Chapter 6

Blake

I was vaguely aware of a mechanical hum behind me as I stared down the five Titans. It was only when one of them picked up a nearby boulder bigger than me and threw it that I bothered to look for the source of the hum. I turned around to see a Bullhead jerking sideways to avoid the boulder, but it wasn't quick enough. The rock took out its starboard engine and the craft began spiralling towards the ground.

A very familiar, girlish scream sounded as the side doors opened and the passengers dived out. I was surprised to see the other two members of Team RWBY, as well as Team JNPR, Coco Adel and Velvet Scarlatina land somewhat gracefully as their airship exploded on the ground no more than thirty feet away. Only Jaune didn't land on his feet; clearly, he still hadn't perfected a landing strategy since initiation a year and a half ago.

"Blake, look out!" Ruby yelled, firing over my shoulder. A Titan let out a roar of pain and I turned to see its hand recoil quickly with a considerably-sized hole in it. After that, all hell broke loose. Despite significantly fewer enemies being present, this fight was much more difficult than the one in Vale had been. There was nothing around to climb, so it was hard to reach the Titans' necks to kill them.

Naturally, Nora wasn't fazed. She repeated the tactic she'd used the day before and swung Magnhild at the knees of the nearest Titan. The giant collapsed, and the much smaller human put all her force into a crushing blow at the base of its neck. The Titan definitely wasn't getting up after that; its neck no longer seemed to exist. I figured that counted as enough damage to its nape.

I rolled sideways to avoid being crushed by another Titan while a series of loud clicks sounded behind me. "I got this," Coco announced, letting loose with her monstrosity of a gun. The Titan who'd almost crushed me suddenly became a deformed mass of flesh, continuously getting torn apart by bullets large enough to put Crescent Rose to shame. After several seconds, Coco stopped firing. Its torso virtually non-existent, her target collapsed.

Two more Titans were brought down fairly quickly, but the one who'd been rent apart soon reformed. "How the fuck is that possible?" Coco complained. She aimed her chaingun at its head and opened fire once more. This time, its head exploded into chunks of flesh which soon began to evaporate. When the decapitated corpse collapsed, I left several deep cuts in what remained of its neck for good measure.

With four of the five Titans eliminated, the nine of us turned our attention to the final foe, a twenty-five-foot tall mass of apparently physics-defying skin, muscle and bone. It didn't seem to care that it was outnumbered, nor that its brethren had been defeated with almost no difficulty at all. It began lumbering towards Velvet, who nimbly dived aside. Weiss launched a gout of flame at its arm, which it hardly seemed to notice.

When Ruby fired at its shoulder, something strange happened. The Titan stopped moving entirely, the bullet hole in its shoulder gushing out steam while the other arm charred and blackened. It looked down at itself as its stomach suddenly bulged outwards, then returned to its normal position. It bulged again, further this time, before snapping back. On the third bulge, the skin broke and a flood of stomach juices and human remains poured out, along with something else.

Not Blake

_The fall wasn__'__t so bad, nor the landing, _I thought. _It__'__s this__… __stuff. Digestive juices, maybe? Stomach acid? Why aren__'__t I dead?_

I sloshed around the fleshy cavern I thought I was going to die in. I'd been so fucking _stupid_. I knew what happens to Titans when they die, why had I stood on one when I killed it? This never would've happened if it weren't for that scalding.

There was nothing I could do now. I was alone in darkness, with only what seemed to be corpses keeping me company. I guess I should've counted myself lucky to be alive at all, but after hours of soaking in some foul-smelling liquid, I was half wishing it would just end already.

_Will I ever see Ruby again? Her childlike naivety, the adorable look on her face when she got cookies or saw new weapons? Or Weiss? She was always hilarious when she was annoyed. Then there__'__s Blake. As much as she tried to act tough and mysterious, she was really just a cute little kitten if you got to know her. Pretty damn hot, too. _That surprised me. I'd never thought of Blake as "hot" before. She was certainly attractive, but…

I found myself thinking that this wasn't how I'd expected to die. I thought I'd either go out in a blaze of glory or live for a century and pass on peacefully, but no. My last moments would apparently be spent inside the stomach of a stupidly huge dude, thinking about whether or not I found my best friend hot.

I'd grown accustomed to the constant movement, but it was nothing compared to a sudden shudder that rocked my fleshy tomb. I was doused once more in stomach juice and fell over. When I staggered to my feet, I had a change of mindset. _Fuck. This, _I thought. _I will _not _die here. _I tried to fire a blast from Ember Celica, intending to blow up the Titan's abdomen and escape, but nothing happened. _Damn. Apparently acid isn__'__t good for the mechanism. Screw it. I__'__ll punch my way out. _

I threw my whole body into a punch at the nearest wall of the stomach. It bent outwards, but didn't break. I tried again, harder this time. It might have been my imagination, but it seemed like the flesh moved further. Gritting my teeth, I punched a third time. The membrane snapped and I flew out into sunlight, followed by a torrent of general gross stuff.

Unfortunately, I forgot to consider that I'd be falling and I didn't land properly. The impact dazed me, and it was several seconds before I noticed my surroundings. When I did, I was rather confused. Four massive skeletons were in the process of evaporating, and the twisted metal carcass of a Bullhead was burning nearby. There was something else, too, something I was far more interested in.

Nine people I was very glad to see stared at me in disbelief, Blake Belladonna chief among them. She was smiling wider than I'd ever seen her smile while her very pretty amber eyes began watering. She threw down both her swords and ran towards me, not seeming to care about the Titan behind me. As everyone else, barring Jaune and Velvet, who lacked ranged weapons, opened fire, Blake tackled me with a hug, almost knocking me back to the ground. Despite being covered in whatever the fuck had been in the Titan's stomach with me, I didn't hesitate to wrap my arms around her and pull her close. I couldn't explain why I was so happy to see her in particular, but I didn't dwell on it. Eventually, we'd been hugging for so long it became weird, so I let her go.

"Pro tip," I announced. "Don't ever get eaten alive."

"Given what you look like now, I can see why," Coco said, smiling.

"Shit, now Blake's covered in it. Sorry about that," I told the Faunus in question. She shrugged. "Anyway, anyone else want hugs?" I offered, arms spread wide.

"Will it get us back to school and not be murdered?" Jaune asked.

"Why would we be murdered?"

"We kinda weren't supposed to come out here, but we did anyway…" Ruby said slowly. "Aaaand the Bullhead blew up, so that's even worse."

"All right, who crashed it?" I demanded.

"I didn't _crash _it, thank you very much," Coco told me. "A Titan threw a rock and I couldn't avoid it in time. And by the way, what are you _wearing_?" I looked down at myself in confusion, and realised that I wasn't _entirely _unscathed. My outfit was in tatters, probably because some of it got snagged on an oversized tooth or some of it disintegrated in the stomach acid. I still had _some _decency, but I would be needing some new clothes before going back to Beacon. I blushed slightly when I realised I'd been hugging Blake in little more than my underwear.

"How are you alive?" Weiss asked. "I mean, it's great that you are, don't get me wrong, but you were in there for _hours_."

"That's a good question," I said. "The acid didn't kill me. Only melted most of my clothes. I decided fuck it, I wasn't dying in there, so I forced my way out."

"Uh, guys?" Jaune asked. "How are we gonna get back?"

"Think the school would believe us if we said we got abducted by aliens and found ourselves in the armpit of fucking nowhere, and Yang magically appeared with us?" Nora suggested.

"I… don't think that would work," Pyrrha said.

"You know, none of our legs are broken," Ren pointed out. "We _could _walk."

"I can't even _see _the school from here, and four of us are in lady stilts," Ruby told him. "That wouldn't work for everyone." I couldn't help but laugh at my sister's insistence on referring to high heels as "lady stilts". "What?" she demanded.

"Lady stilts..." I repeated. "They're called high heels."

"Who cares what they're called?!"

"Does this really matter right now?" Weiss asked. "We're stranded, and in _serious _trouble when we eventually figure out how to get back."

"Come to think of it, I really need a shower," I said. "You guys figure that out, I'll attempt to block the last few hours out of my memory." I left the group and headed over to the crashed Bullhead, thinking.

It was certainly nice to smell clean air after being in an oversized stomach, along with human remains. What wasn't nice was the fact that I still smelled disgusting. Probably. I couldn't actually smell myself, probably because my nose had grown accustomed to the odour.

But that wasn't what I was focused on at that moment. Most of my time in the Titan's stomach had been spent thinking about Blake in some way or another. Seeing everyone when I busted out had been amazing... But for some reason my all attention had almost immediately been on Blake. I'd even briefly forgotten that the Titan was still there when she ran towards me. Then when she hugged me... I hadn't ever wanted to let go. I'd _never _been so happy to see anyone, not even Ruby on the day of our initiation. I sat down next to the crashed aircraft, pressing my fingers to my temples. I could hear the others discussing ways to get home, but I didn't listen. Instead, I closed my eyes and tried to clear my head.

"Hey." A monotonous voice broke the relative silence I was sitting in as Blake plopped down beside me. "You okay?" Wordlessly, I looked into her concerned amber eyes. "Wanna talk?"

"I'm just..." I trailed off, not knowing where I was going with that sentence. I found myself inexplicably nervous when I realised I had the Faunus' undivided attention. "It's just great to be alive and see everyone." _Especially you_, I thought. Again, I had no idea why I was apparently now obsessed with the gorgeous, mysterious girl beside me. "I'm really tired though. Believe it or not, it's very difficult to sleep in waist-deep stomach acid." Blake laughed and leaned up against my shoulder, causing my heart to decide to run a relay. I decided to figure everything out after resting and tried to push the issue aside.

"Guys, we figured it out!" Nora called. Blake and I made our way back to the group to listen to the plan. "We're just gonna call the school to come get us and lie our faces off."

"We call the school and tell them we were all kidnapped, then we overpowered the dude and crashed his Bullhead. We all managed to get out before it exploded. Then he also survived and tried to run off, except one of the Titans got him. That will explain why there's no body," Coco explained.

"Yeah, sure," I said, followed by an enormous yawn. "Fucking hell, I need to sleep."

I wasn't paying attention when the call to Beacon was made, so I didn't actually know who made it. However, within about fifteen blissfully peaceful minutes, another Bullhead touched down a few feet away from our group. The side door opened, revealing a furious-looking Glynda Goodwitch.

"Do you expect me to believe that a single person kidnapped _nine _students and stole a Bullhead without anyone noticing?" she demanded, storming over to us. "And Team RWBY, you were _specifically _ordered not to leave the school grounds."

"Professor, technically I wasn't ordered to do anything," I pointed out. The stern woman's face instantly softened as she looked at me in confusion.

"Miss Xiao Long? But weren't you..." she asked in disbelief, all previous hints of anger seemingly forgotten.

"Yeah, I got eaten, but I didn't die. Then I punched my way out of the stomach and hung around here until you showed up," I explained. "Don't ask how I survived, I just did. I don't understand either."

"Right, well, while it is wonderful to see you alive and well, it does not take away from the fact that the rest of your team disobeyed a direct order. They will be punished accordingly."

"Uh, Professor?" Jaune asked nervously. "Actually, we convinced them to come with us to kill Titans. We should be punished, not Team RWBY. Sorry." _Why's Vomit Boy taking the blame? _I wondered. _I'll have to find out what really happened later._

"Very well. I will consult with the Headmaster and determine the ideal course of action. For now, you will come back to the school and return to your dorms immediately. Is that understood?"

"Yes, ma'am," we all muttered. Everyone boarded Goodwitch's Bullhead and settled in for the return flight. Between the comfort of my seat, my general exhaustion and the smoothness of the craft's ride, I passed out on the way.

**A/N: Welcome back! Sorry for another long wait. I really don't mean to do this, but I was forced to study for my history exam (side note: I'm now done with Quebec history forever. Such a great feeling after repeating the same shit for eight years of my life), and I could never quite get this chapter to feel right. Anyway, hopefully it's not too bad. **

**Also, GRAND REVEAL AT LAST! For those of you who know my writing outside of AoR, you probably know that I don't like to kill off main characters (except main villains if the story demands it), so for some of you it probably wasn't **_**that **_**hard to figure out. **

**Anyway, that's about it, so as always, thanks for reading. Leave a review and follow/favourite if you want to. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Yang**

When I woke up, I didn't immediately know where I was. I sat up with a start and looked around, soon realising I was on Blake's bed. She and Weiss were sitting on the Ice Queen's bed, while Ruby was perched on her own. All three of them seemed like they were trying to look disapproving, but all were failing. Even Weiss, surprisingly.

"So you're awake?" Blake asked.

"Nah, I'm looking around and answering questions in my sleep," I replied. Ruby stifled a laugh at my sarcasm. "Speaking of which, how'd I get here? Last thing I remember is being on the Bullhead."

"We carried you. You wouldn't wake up when we landed," Weiss said. That explained the attempted disapproving stares.

"You're heavier than you look, Yang," Ruby told me.

"That's probably my awesomeness weighing me down," I suggested.

"Your ego, more like," Blake muttered. She didn't bother trying to hide the smile that accompanied the comment. Since I busted out, I'd seen her smile more than ever. It was giving me slight butterflies in my stomach.

"Anyway, what'd I miss?" I asked.

"Ozpin told us not to leave, Blake left, Nora punched Cardin and broke the cafeteria, Coco stole a Bullhead, crashed it, we killed some Titans and you showed up. You were there for the rest," Ruby recounted, speaking so fast it was as though she were on some sort of timer.

"Speaking of which, why did you leave, Blake? You haven't explained," Weiss demanded.

"To avenge Yang," the Faunus replied quietly. "I thought she was gone, so I did the only thing I could think to do. Get revenge."

"You should've told us where you were going," Weiss told her.

"Weiss, it doesn't matter. We're all here now," Ruby said, clearly trying to prevent an argument. I silently thanked her for that; an argument between Weiss and Blake wasn't something I was in the mood for.

"So why is Team JNPR taking the blame for all you guys coming out?" I asked.

"Good question. Maybe they wanna give us more time to enjoy having you back?" Ruby suggested. "It wasn't their idea to go out at all though. Weiss and I decided to go after Blake, Coco offered to fly us and Velvet and JNPR tagged along."

"Has Ozpin or Goodwitch given you shit for leaving yet?"

"No, it's been all quiet. Except for your snoring," Weiss replied.

"How long was I out?"

"About... Eighteen hours," Blake told me.

"And we've had to stay here the whole time. At least, we think so. We were told to come to our dorms, so we haven't left. You're lucky I love you, or I would've ordered that you be locked in the bathroom to muffle it a bit," Ruby said.

"Why would the bathroom need muffled, and how would putting me in there help?" I asked, knowing precisely what Ruby meant.

"What..." she replied slowly, obviously confused.

"You said you would've ordered that I be locked in the bathroom to muffle it. That doesn't make sense," I explained.

"Can't say I missed the smartass remarks," Weiss muttered. Just then, there was a knock at the door.

"I got it!" Ruby announced from right beside the door, having used her Semblance to get over there as soon as she'd heard the knock. She opened it to reveal Professor Ozpin, who smiled in greeting.

"Hello, girls. May I come in?" he asked gently. Technically he probably didn't need to ask, being Headmaster and all, but I appreciated the gesture. Ruby nodded and opened the door wider to let him in. "Miss Xiao Long. It's good to see that you are alive and well," Ozpin told me, pulling the chair out from the team's shared desk and sitting down.

"Great to be out of that stomach," I replied. "So, what can we do for you?"

"I should've known you would not obey my orders to remain on school grounds. Perhaps I should be glad you waited so long before leaving." We all laughed nervously, knowing exactly what he was talking about. Our team didn't have the best reputation for following rules. "You will all be returning to classes this afternoon, as the grieving period you were given no longer applies. Meanwhile, there is still the matter of the disciplinary action which must be taken. While it is lucky all of you returned safely, the same cannot be said of the Bullhead you took."

"Professor, that wasn't our idea and we had nothing to do with it crashing-" Ruby began, but got cut off by Ozpin.

"I know whose idea it was. Miss Adel is infamous amongst the staff for her... _wild side_. Why, in her first year at the Academy... Perhaps that story should go untold. Regardless, I have decided that, given the circumstances, a week's worth of detentions is more than enough. Miss Xiao Long is, of course, exempt, as she was evading digestion rather than breaking rules."

"That sounds more than fair, sir," Weiss said. Ruby looked annoyed, but I knew she wasn't brave or dumb enough to argue.

"Well, that is all. Professor Goodwitch will provide you with the details of your detentions tomorrow in class, and you are now permitted to leave your room. Good day, ladies." With that, he left.

"I'm hungry," I announced the second the door clicked shut.

"You're always hungry," Weiss grumbled.

"Yeah, but I have a valid reason this time. I haven't eaten since the big fucker showed up and broke the wall," I pointed out.

"She's got a point," Ruby said thoughtfully. "She also has a problem though. They don't start making breakfast for another hour and a half."

"Why, what time is it?" I asked.

"Five-thirty A.M," Blake replied.

"And you're all still awake?" I asked incredulously.

"You think we could've slept with all that snoring?" Weiss demanded.

"There's also the fact that we were just so glad you're alive that none of us were inclined to sleep, but it was definitely the snoring that kept us up," Blake said sarcastically.

"Anyway, if they're not making breakfast, the only food is..." I said slowly, as a look of horror dawned on Ruby's face.

"You're not having my cookies!" she told me. "Don't you remember the time I used my executive power as team leader to forbid anyone else to eat them?"

"And if I use _my _executive power as your older sister to make you give them to me, what happens then?"

"You're only my _half _sister, Yang," she pointed out smugly. "_You have no power over me_." During this time, Blake had apparently gotten bored with the argument. Either that, or she wanted to cause some chaos. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her rummaging in the closet, where we all secretly knew Ruby hid her stash of emergency cookies. Meanwhile, my sister was still intently focused on me, probably making sure I didn't try anything. Suddenly, though, there was the distinct crinkling sound of aluminium foil being unwrapped and Ruby's eyes widened in horror.

"Thanks, Blake," I called, as the Faunus tossed me a cookie.

"_Nooooooo!_" Ruby yelled, looking back and forth between Blake and I. She clearly couldn't decide whether to attack me to stop me from eating the cookie or attack Blake to get her to stop giving them to me. It didn't take her long to choose, though.

"Yang! Go long!" Blake exclaimed, throwing the still partially-wrapped bundle of baked goodness at me while a blur of red descended on her. She yelped as Ruby tackled her to the ground. Meanwhile, I'd finished my first cookie and was biting into my second, while Weiss was looking around at the three of us with the most disappointed look I'd ever seen.

"Why would I expect a traumatic event to make any of you more mature?" she asked in very obvious exasperation as she headed for the door. As soon as she was gone, Ruby narrowed her eyes at me.

"Yang. Don't make me come over there," she threatened.

"All right, all right, fine," I replied, but it was somewhat muffled by the cookie still in my mouth. I tossed the rest of them back to her and she looked at them, seemingly heartbroken.

"My cookies..." she complained. She cradled the aluminium bundle for the next hour or so, looking totally defeated.

Ruby didn't talk to Blake or I for the rest of that day. She spent the lunch hour discussing various plans with Nora to raid the kitchens and replenish her cookie supply, but I wasn't listening. I was too busy looking at Cardin Winchester, wondering how he'd ended up wearing an arm cast and a back brace. After I'd pondered it for about ten minutes, Pyrrha finally explained.

"He was saying some... Unsavoury things yesterday, which Nora didn't like," she said, watching comprehension dawn on my face.

"Ohhh. That makes sense." With my attention now back to our group, I noticed something else that was different. Pyrrha and Jaune were sitting _really _close together. It was almost like they couldn't get enough of each other's contact, but other than that they were acting the same as usual. I decided I'd have to figure it out later, because it'd be weird for me to ask out of the blue if anything was going on.

"Oh, by the way," Jaune said suddenly. "You guys were making a lot of noise really early this morning. Dare I ask what that was about?"

"Best not," Blake told him, with a mysterious wink. Even _I _blushed at that, but it was nothing compared to Vomit Boy. Had Pyrrha's hair been in front of his face, it would've been impossible to tell them apart based on colour alone. Meanwhile, I was wondering when Blake had started making dirty jokes.

"You don't really mean that, do you?" Pyrrha asked dubiously.

"Yeah... Did I miss something while I was asleep?" I asked.

"No, of course not!" Blake answered. "I just wanted to see if I could make Yang blush."

"Thanks," I muttered.

"Anyway, it was just an argument and a fracas about Yang eating Ruby's 'hidden' cookies," the Faunus explained, making air quotes as she said the word "hidden". "She's still mad about it."

We spent the rest of the lunch hour just hanging out and talking about whatever random topics came to mind, but I did catch myself staring at Blake several times. I really couldn't explain what was going on with me. It was like ever since I'd busted out, I couldn't get enough of the girl's company. It felt great to be around everyone else too, but something about being with Blake was making me feel... I don't know, more alive, maybe? It certainly wasn't something I'd noticed before getting eaten.

At some point, Ruby and Nora got up and left, both of them staring intently at the entrance to the kitchen. I couldn't help but think that something was going to go horribly wrong as Nora started yelling for the cooks' attention and Ruby used her Semblance to zip past everyone. In the blink of an eye she was gone, leaving only the swinging of the kitchen door to prove she'd ever been there. I sighed as I turned back to my food, still ravenously hungry despite having eaten an enormous breakfast.

The bell soon rang, and it turned out I had to go to afternoon classes. You'd think getting eaten by a relatively unknown enemy and nearly dying would excuse me for a while, but _no_. I suffered through history and Grimm Studies, bored out of my skull. Truthfully, I spent most of those periods sneaking glances at Blake. I didn't think she noticed me looking. For some reason I was just transfixed by her beauty, something I hadn't really noticed before.

My final class was combat training with Goodwitch. She didn't seem pleased to see Team RWBY or JNPR. When everyone was settled, she decided our two teams needed to fight each other. Apparently detentions weren't enough for her, and she wanted to inflict corporeal punishment on us without getting in trouble. Otherwise, I was probably overthinking it.

"So, uh, guys? Do we go easy on each other?" Jaune asked as we were preparing to start the match.

"I don't think it's a good idea to hold back," Blake said. "Sorry." She really didn't sound particularly sorry. She probably knew Team JNPR could handle whatever we could throw at them. Maybe Jaune couldn't, but his stupid amount of Aura would keep him safe. Most likely.

"It is never a good idea to converse with the enemy," Goodwitch shouted. "Begin!"

Ren made the first move, firing a burst from his pistols. Weiss raised a glyph to protect all four of us until he stopped shooting. When he did, Ruby charged forward and swung Crescent Rose. Nora, Pyrrha and Ren all dove out of the way while Jaune raised his shield and got sent flying. Weiss used some ice Dust to freeze the poor boy in place when he landed and turned her attention to the rest of his team.

Pyrrha suddenly descended on Weiss with determination written on her face. The heiress managed to hold her own for a while, but Pyrrha's attacks were too rapid for her to do anything but defend for her life. Blake came to her assistance, using both of her swords to distract the prodigy she was fighting. Meanwhile, I got Ren's attention with some long-range blasts and threw a punch at him through the smoke. Unfortunately, he somehow knew my attack was coming and sidestepped, before whacking me in the back of the head with one of his pistols. The impact knocked me to the floor and I had to roll sideways to avoid Magnhild, which Nora had swung at my head.

Ruby came to my rescue, somewhat surprising after what had happened that morning. She fired at Nora, who was forced to take evasive action. However, her idea of evasive action mainly consisted of switching her hammer to its grenade launcher form and returning fire while slowly moving sideways. She and Ruby continued squaring off while I engaged Ren in hand-to-hand combat. His reflexes were very goody but I didn't give him a chance to hit me back. Unfortunately this meant I was only tiring myself out while not managing to land a single blow, as he was able to block or dodge every punch I threw.

Suddenly, I heard a pompous-sounding grunt of pain, followed by a thud and a hasty apology from Pyrrha. Immediately afterwards, I saw Blake hit Pyrrha with the hilt of her sword while she was distracted making sure she hadn't hurt Weiss too badly. The strongest fighter in our year collapsed, falling victim to her own selflessness. Team RWBY soon suffered another casualty as Nora swung Magnhild into Ruby's stomach. The younger girl had been using her Semblance to dash around and hadn't been ready to react to an attack as soon as she stopped. This left Blake and I against Ren and Nora.

"Yang, go for Nora!" Blake called. She tried to stab Ren while I ran towards the shortest person I knew. I had to dodge a grenade before I got to her, but I wasted no time in aiming a punch at her face. She ducked and swept my legs out from under me, but I landed in a roll and got up before she could exploit it. As we continued to fight, I heard Blake cry out in pain. I stepped back and launched a blast from Ember Celica at Nora's feet, causing her to hastily retreat. I then turned to see how my partner was faring, and was met with the sight of her surrendering to Ren. Furious that she'd been defeated, or maybe that she'd been hurt, I didn't know, I threw a rapid series of lunches at Nora, who was unable to defend herself. She hit the arena wall hard and I went for Ren. As I ran towards him, he slowly raised StormFlower and fired a few rounds at me. Before I got to him, however, his legs suddenly gave out and he raised his hands in forfeit.

"And so ends the match, with Team RWBY victorious," Goodwitch announced. "Mr Arc, you need to work on your defensive strategy. Miss Nikos, please don't apologise after defeating your opponent. It doesn't make sense. Miss Valkyrie, you performed excellently. As did you, Mr Lie, but please work on your stamina. You lost because you over exerted yourself. Miss Rose, never let your guard down, even when you're moving faster than the eye can see. _Especially _then. Miss Schnee, make better use of your Semblance and Dust during close-range combat. Miss Belladonna, I have no criticisms. Miss Xiao Long, bursts of anger like that, while they may make you stronger, make you prone to judgment lapses. Do try to stay calm in battle. Regardless, you all did well. Return to your seats."

Exhausted, the eight of us traipsed back to our seats to watch the rest of the matches Goodwitch would be arranging before the day ended. I wasn't really interested in them though. I was too busy trying to figure out why Blake's defeat had made me so angry. I'd seen her lose before, it was nothing new. I'd also seen her get hurt more badly than she was in the fight; even though I hadn't actually seen what had happened, she appeared to be fine afterwards. Hell, seeing her almost get eaten when we'd fought the first Titan hadn't provoked that kind of response.

I ended up thinking about her for the rest of that day. During dinner, I was highly distracted trying to figure out what was going on in my brain. Something had clearly changed while I was in that stomach, and it had something to do with Blake. It was starting to really bother me, and I was determined to work it out by the end of that week.

**A/N: Whew. That was a long chapter. Hopefully the ending wasn't too abrupt. Anyway, you've surely all figured out what's going on with Yang, right? Of course you have. **

**Still no AoT characters, I know. They're coming, I promise. Blake's feelings about Yang and her return are also coming, so don't worry if you want to know how she feels about everything that's been going on. **

**Minor, unimportant point: the story about Coco that Ozpin mentioned probably isn't going to be explained. Unless I later say otherwise, just imagine some ridiculous, crazy, dangerous thing she would've done. You could also make it a sexual thing if you want; she is over 18 in this story, given that she's in her third year (technically the age of consent is 16 in both countries I'm a citizen of, but whatever. Statistically most of you are probably American, where I think it's 18. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong about that).**

**I think that about covers everything, so as always, leave a review and follow or favourite if you want to. Thanks for reading. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Blake**

Yang's return had left me ecstatic. When she'd been gone, I'd felt empty, alone. Now that she was back... I hadn't felt this happy since it turned out that no one on Teams RWBY or JNPR cared about me being a Faunus. However, since she'd woken up, I'd noticed something rather strange.

On several occasions throughout that day, I caught Yang staring at me. I found it oddly flattering, but I couldn't figure out why she was doing it. I'd never noticed it before. Of course, I'd never looked at her enough to notice it before, but now I felt that I had to look at her to make sure she was really with us. I had an irrational fear that my brain was playing a sick joke on me, so I kept needing reassurance. At least, that was how I had been rationalising the covert glances I'd been throwing in her direction all day.

I also couldn't get the girl out of my head. Any time I let my mind wander throughout that day, my thoughts inevitably turned to Yang. It was always something else about her I'd be thinking about: her eyes, her smile, her desire to protect Ruby, Weiss and I, everything. It was bothering me slightly that I couldn't stop thinking about her, but I figured it could be worse. It could be someone repulsive like Cardin Winchester plaguing my mind, or nightmares about my past.

Those were the thoughts swirling through my brain that night as I lay in bed, exhausted from the fight with Team JNPR yet totally unable to sleep. In the bunk above me, my partner appeared to be having the same issue; I could hear her tossing and turning along with a distinct lack of her usual snoring. I decided I needed to clear my head, so I got out of bed, got dressed and prepared to go for a walk.

"Blake?" Yang asked quietly as I was reaching for doorknob.

"What is it?"

"Is everything okay?" Her voice was full of concern. Even now, in my second year with Team RWBY, it still amazed me that anyone could show so much care for me.

"Yeah, fine. I'm just going for a walk."

"I'll come with you. Give me a minute." I saw her jump from her bed, narrowly missing the desk placed between our bunks and those of Ruby and Weiss.

"Sure." I found myself strangely eager to be breaking curfew and spending time alone with her, but I couldn't think of any reason why. I forced myself not to look as she changed from her sleepwear into a pair of sweatpants and a thicker shirt. With my night vision, I could've been treated to a view few people ever get to see, but I felt myself blushing at the thought of staring at a half-naked Yang.

Soon, she was ready to go, and we quietly crept out of the dark room into the equally dark hallway. The school was silent with everybody else blissfully asleep, and it made Yang's heavy footfalls seem deafeningly loud. We wandered around aimlessly, neither of us saying anything but both of us enjoying the other's company. We eventually found ourselves outside, where the brisk night air made a stark contrast to the Academy's warm hallways and rooms.

"Hey, Blake?" Yang suddenly asked, breaking the silence.

"Yeah?"

"Did you mean what you said earlier? About leaving to get revenge for me being eaten?"

"It's... Complicated," I told her. "Everything felt so wrong without you. Reading was weird because you weren't trying to drag me into one of your crazy schemes with Ruby or Nora. Sleeping was weird because you weren't there to snore loud enough to wake the dead."

"So you left because things felt weird?"

"No, not that. It's more like... I don't know how to explain it without sounding cliché."

"I don't mind clichés. If you want to talk about it, I'm not gonna judge you for how you phrase things."

"Yes, you would," I said. She looked at me in surprise.

"No, I wou-"

"You would. I'd say something that sounds dirty when taken out of context and you'd start snickering."

"That's true," she conceded. "But you know what I mean."

"Yeah, I do."

"So... Do you wanna talk about it?"

"I need to gather my thoughts first."

"Okay." We continued walking in silence. It was a clear night, and the moon was bright enough that I didn't need to be able to see in the dark to know where I was going. More out of habit than anything else, I headed towards a secluded spot I often went to to read on nice days. Yang followed, not asking where we were going.

After ten minutes of walking at a leisurely pace, we arrived in one of my favourite areas of the school. It was a small nook on the west side of the building which was bathed in sunlight throughout most of the afternoon every day. There was very rarely anyone there when I went to read, and it was a reasonable distance from all the more popular areas for people to meet up with their friends, so it was also quiet. Simply put, it was perfect for getting lost in a good book.

I sat down against the wall, and gestured for Yang to do the same. She sat next to me, so close I could feel her body heat. She said nothing as I thought about what I should say to her.

"So you're not going to care if I sound stupid?" I finally asked, after a few more minutes of silence.

"Of course not," she said, sounding as though it should have been obvious.

"Okay, well, get comfortable. This might take a while."

"We have all night." She wasn't _exactly_ right about that, of course; if we stayed out all night Ruby and Weiss would notice we were gone when they woke up, and we'd probably end up falling asleep in class. Regardless, I wasn't about to point that out.

"When I was in the White Fang, no one really cared about me as anything other than an asset. Sure, I had the best medical care a terrorist organisation could get for its foot soldiers, but I was only looked after in the way you look after an easily replaceable weapon. That's all I was. That's all any of us were. Tools to be used until we were arrested or killed, then we'd be replaced."

"That sounds terrible..." Yang whispered.

"Even my closest friend, who was really more of a mentor than anything else, always acted really cold towards me. If I got hurt on a mission, he'd say I should've fought better. If other White Fang people gave me trouble, he'd say I needed to earn respect rather than complain about it.

"Then I came to Beacon. Met you and Ruby. That first day, she was the only person who really tried to get to know me. I instinctively brushed her off, not really knowing how to deal with people when they weren't targets. But you... This is the part where it sounds stupid. You quite literally changed my life. Admittedly, I found it annoying at first, when you were always asking if I was okay, but then I realised you genuinely cared. Ruby does too, obviously, and even Weiss, but it's different with you."

"Different how?" I looked over at her. The moonlight was reflecting off her lilac irises, making them appear to glow in a dazzling shade of light purple.

"It's hard to explain. It's like... I don't know. Ruby, Weiss, Team JNPR, they're like candles, or maybe small torches, on a dark night. As dumb as it might sound, you're like a bonfire. You've pretty much always made me feel better just by being around. When I thought you were dead, everything felt cold. Barren. With you back... Everything seems to be so much brighter."

"Is that why you tried to avenge me? Because everything felt so shitty?"

"Pretty much."

"Please don't tell me you cried for me. I'm not that special." Remembering how I'd reacted after the Titan invasion had been dealt with, I couldn't face her.

"You are to me," I whispered.

"There's something I need to tell you too."

"What is it?" I honestly had no idea what she was going to say.

"I couldn't stop thinking about you while I was gone." For some reason, my breath caught in my throat when she said that.

"In what way?"

"It sounds shallow, but at first I was just wondering whether or not I found you hot, and whether it would be weird for me to think about my best friend like that."

"And? Do you?" I was blushing, and hoping the moonlight wasn't bright enough for Yang to see.

"That would be an understatement. I mean, they say I burn, but you... Anyway, that's not the point. Part of the reason I decided not to die was so I could see you again. As in, specifically you, Blake. I swear I thought of the other two for like three seconds each during the entire time. I couldn't get you out of my head." Suddenly, she took my hand in hers and intertwined her fingers with mine. "I still can't."

My heart was now pounding and I was extremely nervous, but I didn't pull my hand back. "I... I can't stop thinking of you either," I said quietly. "I thought I was just glad you're alive, but..."

"And I thought I was just glad to be alive, but I'm looking at the others like I was just on vacation or something. I'm seeing you a lot differently. And I think I know why now."

I turned and looked into her eyes. The deep lilac pools drew me in, and I found the answer to why I couldn't get the girl out of my head. After having takes her for granted and almost losing her forever, I realised it for the first time: I had completely fallen for Yang Xiao Long.

Her eyes closed, and she slowly moved her head closer to mine. Waves of nervousness rolled over me as I realised what she was doing, making me feel very hot. She slowly got closer and I knew she wanted to kiss me. I wanted her to, but I was rife with insecurities about it. What if she didn't enjoy it? What if she decided she was wrong about her feelings? These what-ifs spiralled through my mind, making me hesitate to do anything... Until I decided to abandon rationality and close the gap between us.

I closed my eyes as our lips connected. I felt many emotions in that moment: happiness, nervousness, excitement and about a dozen others. I forgot about everything: schoolwork, my detentions, the Titans, the White Fang, everything. All that mattered was my hand in Yang's and our lips pressed together.

I lost track of time as we kissed, not wanting the moment to end. Eventually, though, we had to breathe. We separated and made eye contact as we smiled, then she kissed me again. The second kiss was even better than the first, because the nerves were gone. This time, I could focus entirely on the knowledge that I had someone who would always be there for me and who would always care about me.

"Blake... Will you be my girlfriend?" Yang asked when we broke apart.

"Of course, you big oaf," I replied without hesitation. After what had just happened, how could the answer have been anything else?

"Awesome."

"Think we should head back now?" I asked. "It's gotten pretty late."

"Nah. Let's stay out a little longer."

We ended up staying in that spot, hand in hand, until dawn broke. At that point, we decided to sprint back to our dorm and pretend nothing had happened. Naturally, Yang insisted on making it a race, which I won. She said she let me win, but I sincerely doubted she could run faster than me.

Thankfully, neither Ruby nor Weiss had stirred by the time we got back, so we changed back into our nightclothes and pretended to be asleep until Ruby woke everyone with her whistle. Throughout that day, neither Yang nor I could stay awake, but I didn't care. The sleepless night had been totally worth it.

**A/N: Hello again. Sorry about the delay, I've been working on a... Less tasteful RWBY fic which I won't be uploading on this site. If you really want to read it, it's on AO3 where I have the same username as here. It's highly distasteful, though, so maybe don't charge headlong into it if you do read it.**

**Anyway, never mind that. Hopefully you enjoyed the chapter, as sudden as the new lot development may seem. I'll be honest, I wasn't sure where to go with it and I didn't feel like repeating the whole "what is going on in my brain" thing with Blake and Yang for several more chapters, so I went ahead and let Bumblebee set sail. That was one of the few things planned from the beginning, but I didn't know when it would happen.**

**Well, regardless, leave a review and follow/favourite if you want to. Merci pour avoir lu.**


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